Archives June 2009

June 2009

Health benefits

G&K Services, a uniform supplier, ranked No. 15 on our Employees’ Choice: Top 30 Benefits and Pension Plan list. Deen Maharaj, director of HR, Canada,…

Many drug plan sponsors find it hard to believe that they can save 4% to 8% of their current spending simply by optimizing their existing…

Let’s start with the good news. ESI Canada’s annual drug trend analysis found that private drug spend increased by 5% nationally in 2008 (an increase…

Biologic drugs represent a relatively new wave of medications that has come to market and is dramatically changing both the lives of patients and the…

Defined benefit pensions

Operating defined benefit (DB) pension plans involves risk. Although this risk is often not visible in upward-trending equity markets and favourable interest rate environments, it…

Governance/legislation

When the title of the annual report for the largest pension plan in the country begins with “Let us explain,” it’s clear that something has…

When a particular pension or benefits topic is making waves in the media, I often hear from PR firms. If I had a dollar for…

The Ontario government announced in its last budget that it would provide the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan with the legal authority to act as an…

Health/wellness

Budgets are tight, workforces are getting reduced and some employees are anxious that they may be the next to receive their walking papers. Yet experts…

The current economy and market conditions have taught many employers new and valuable lessons: from running core businesses while adapting to the times, to focusing…

Capital accumulation plans

The past few years have seen considerable product development initiatives aimed at helping capital accumulation plan (CAP) sponsors choose appropriate investment vehicles to offer their…